School of Business, University of Ballarat, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

The Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) segment of travelers is a substantial segment of tourism in many destinations around the world. However, relative to its size, research has been lacking, commencing only around 20 years ago, and gaining momentum only this century. Research into VFR traveler profiles and characteristics has been limited, and some of what has been found conflicts with other findings. One such conflict relates to travelers’ length of stay. While some research indicates that VFR travel is associated with long length of stay, other research indicates that it is associated with short-break tourism. The purpose of this research was to examine the length of stay for VFR travelers compared with non-VFR travelers at three contrasting destinations in Australia. Although the average length of stay varied among destinations, there was no significant difference between VFR and non-VFR travelers at each destination. That is, in this study VFR travel was not found to be associated with either short or long stay at the three destinations considered. However, length of stay was longer the more popular the destination was with tourists. As such, it is concluded that VFR travelers stay at more attractive destinations longer than at less attractive destinations, but not at any significantly different level to non-VFRs.

The Chinese holiday market has become very important to the New Zealand tourism industry. Understanding Chinese tourists’ needs is therefore crucial for the future development of this market. Existing research suggests that for Chinese visitors, like other market segments, the natural landscape has a strong influence over the decision to travel to New Zealand. There is an emerging concern, however, that the country’s tourism product must diversify, and attention is now shifting to utilize the appeal of culture and heritage attractions in New Zealand, particularly Māori cultural products. This article reports on research into Chinese tourists’ motivations, expectations, and behavior with respect to their travel in New Zealand. Particular emphasis is given to an exploration of the relative importance of nature and culture to these Chinese tourists. Findings suggest that the Chinese market may be particularly suited to a culturally oriented experience of New Zealand, but one based less on Māori culture as it is often portrayed to tourists (e.g., cultural performances, or experiencing a hangi), and more on the opportunities to learn about Māori stories and legends as part of visiting natural environments. The implications of these findings for shaping the Chinese tourist gaze in New Zealand are discussed.

The term “event travel career” describes how highly involved and/or committed persons pursue a career of travel to organized events linked to their preferred leisure activity. The introduction of this significant, discretionary social role may lead to individuals experiencing dilemmas in prioritizing between day-to-day needs and desires and those of their event travel career. This article discusses how the concepts of competing priorities and opportunity costs are useful in understanding constraints faced by serious leisurists pursuing an event travel career. The sport of triathlon was chosen as a context in which to examine these concepts. A textual analysis of postings to an Australian online forum for triathletes was undertaken over 4 weeks. The data supported the contention that persons who train for and travel to triathlon events face significant resource-related constraints in the form of competing priorities. Three domains where the triathletes encountered competing priorities in their lives were identified: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural. In terms of negotiating constraints presented by their competing priorities, the triathletes appeared willing to accept a range of opportunity costs in order to maintain momentum in their event travel career. This study contributes to enhancing knowledge regarding constraints faced by serious leisurists in a tourism context, and also in understanding the broader implications of constraints negotiation at the individual level.

The South Island Hector’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori hectori) is both endemic and endangered. It is also subjected to commercial ecotourism operations in Akaroa Harbour, Banks Peninsula. The Hector’s dolphin is an attractive species for swim-with-dolphin tourism. It is strictly coastal, resident in well-defined areas, has a low migratory range, and is generally attracted to vessels. In Akaroa Harbour, commercial swim-with-dolphin trips began in 1990 and it is the only place where this type of activity is permitted with this species. This study assessed the effects of such activities on Hector’s dolphins, in particular vessel approach and swimmer placement. Effects identified here are similar to those previously reported in other coastal species. Furthermore, although Hector’s dolphins showed increased tolerance to swimmers over time, they appear to display a temporal shift in their receptivity to swimmers during the austral summer months. To ensure the sustainability of the local tourism industry, it is recommended that the moratorium on the number of swim permits remains in place. In addition, a reduction in the level of exposure of this population of Hector’s dolphins to tourism activities should be considered.

*School of Tourism, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, St Lucia Campus, The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD, Australia†School of Marketing, Australian School of Business, The University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW, Australia

This article reports on a scoping study identifying the impediments to tourism investment in Australia. It focuses on regional perspectives to present an understanding of tourism investment in metropolitan, regional, and remote tourism destinations. Despite the 2009 Jackson Report outlining several supply-side inhibitors to tourism development in Australia, the key impediments for tourism investment are not well covered in the tourism literature and are rarely brought together in an integrated manner. To identify these investment impediments, a case study approach, employing semistructured interviews with tourism industry and government representatives in several metropolitan, regional, and remote locations throughout Australia, was conducted in early 2010. Low profitability and variable demand were frequently nominated as the most significant impediments to investment by the majority of the interviewees. However, each location has its own unique circumstances and impediments to investment, underpinned by the type of economic development of the region, local planning controls and regulations, as well as issues particular to tourism such as location and natural and/or cultural attractions. A number of recommendations are formulated based on the findings from the case studies that emphasize the identification, monitoring, and publicizing of facilitators of investment and strategies to overcome impediments.

The aim of this study was to examine the potential effects of two types of emotional labor, surface acting and deep acting, on the job satisfaction of adventure tour leaders employed within Australia. While surface acting refers to faking feelings that are not really felt, or hiding feelings that are inappropriate to display, deep acting is concerned with aligning one’s true feelings with the ones required by the job. An online survey measuring adventure tour leaders’ levels of emotional labor and job satisfaction was made available on the Internet for a period of 2 months. A sample of 137 participants responded to this survey. The results show that while deep acting has a statistically significant positive impact on adventure tour leaders’ job satisfaction, there is no statistically significant relationship between surface acting and job satisfaction. These findings are consistent with research suggesting that deep acting could help to convey a sense of authenticity and a feeling of achievement in employees, thus leading to higher levels of job satisfaction. This, in turn, has implications for the way adventure tour operators manage their employees in relation to human resource management areas such as recruitment, selection, training, development, performance appraisal, and retention.

Address correspondence to Monica Torland, School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Southern Cross University, Military Road, Lismore 2480, New South Wales, Australia. Tel: (02) 6620 3709; E-mail:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it